Contributors

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Host

Anna Marie Jaworski

Anna Marie Jaworski is the mother of a Heart Warrior born in 1994 with a single ventricle heart who has undergone 3 open-heart surgeries. As a vital, young adult working full-time as a pharmacy tech, Anna is constantly amazed and inspired by her Heart Warrior. Anna strives to let others in the congenital heart defect community understand that they are not alone by hosting this podcast -- the longest-running podcast for the CHD community.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-marie-daigneault-jaworski-66019b5/

Guests

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Guest

Dr. Timothy Nelson

Dr. Timothy Nelson directs the Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for hypoplastic left heart syndrome at Mayo Clinic. His research focuses on cardiovascular regeneration using bioengineered stem cells to treat degenerative diseases, particularly HLHS.


As director of the program, Dr. Nelson and his team are specifically interested in the cause of HLHS and finding ways to delay and prevent heart failure for individuals with HLHS. To better understand and treat this congenital heart disease, the program has taken a multifaceted approach that includes research into stem cells, genetics, imaging tools, and the creation of a biorepository.

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Erin Borkowski

Erin Borkowski is Bella's mom, who was diagnosed with HLHS at 20 weeks. Bella, now 11, has undergone all three scheduled surgeries. Erin's family created the nonprofit "Beats for Bella" and she now works with Dr. Nelson at HeartWorks.


Bella has undergone all three scheduled surgeries and is now 11 years old. Erin and her family created a nonprofit organization called Beats for Bella. Additionally, Erin is working with Dr. Nelson at HeartWorks. She is here today to share with us what she’s doing to help the nonprofit organization.

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Jeff Holden

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Rachael Gott

Rachael Gott is an adult who was born in 1988 with HLHS. She to date hasn’t had any major corrective heart surgeries. She currently has had 13 cardiac ablations, along with two device implants. Rachael is an advocate in the heart community and is passionate in helping others on their own CHD journeys.

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Regina Lawrence

Regina is Aubrey Lawrence's mother. Aubrey was born with DiGeorge syndrome which is also known as 22q11.2 deletion syndrome. Regina is also a volunteer with Hearts Unite the Globe, the nonprofit organization that supports podcasts for the CHD community. Regina works on The CHC Podcast: Congenital Heart Conversations. 

https://tinyurl.com/CHCPodcastApple